How to Make an iPhone Tripod Mount

The iPhone 3GS supports video capture, but if you're serious about using it, then you should learn how to make your own tripod mount.
Unlike the original iPhone, the 3GS has a great camera, but in order to
take a high quality video, the camera must be kept perfectly steady.
The best way of doing this is to mount the phone on a tripod.

There doesn't seem any official adaptors available which can be used
to mount an iPhone onto a tripod, however, with a few basic pieces of
equipment, it should be fairly easy to make your own.

Tools and Materials Needed

Tripod

Cupholder Phone Mount Kit

Drill

1/4-20 Hex Nut

Glue

Step 1: Preparing the Supplies

The equipment needed to make the iPhone tripod mount is actually
fairly simple, and you shouldn't need to look hard to find all of the
components required. Any cupholder phone mount kit which will
accommodate the iPhone and leave the camera unobstructed will be
suitable. It might also be able to adapt other types of car mount kit,
although the easiest to use will normally be a cupmount kit because of
the large surface area on the bottom which can be fixed into.

Step 2: Dismantling the Phone Holder

The cupmount phone holder consists of a large base which can be
inserted into your cupholder to steady your phone. Unscrew the bottom
plate on this phone holder and remove the plastic panel. This will
normally be a fairly thin and flat piece of plastic which can be
removed and adjusted easily.

Step 3: Marking and Drilling

The bottom piece of plastic which you have just removed now needs to
be marked and drilled. The position of this needs to be carefully
located so that the iPhone will be steady and will be able to take high
quality videos of everything. You will need to drill through the
plastic slowly, and it might be easier if you protect the plastic by
using some masking tape.

Step 4: Mounting the Tripod Fixing

In order to mount the cup holder onto the tripod, you will need to
secure the hex screw onto the base plate of the cupholder phone mount.
The easiest way of doing this is to glue the tripod hex nut in position
over the hole which you have just drilled. Make sure that the hex nut
is centered over the hole because this will make attaching the mount to
the tripod much easier. If you are gluing the nut in place, then you
should leave it overnight for the bond to dry before attaching it onto
the tripod.

Step 5: Mounting the Phone Adaptor

Now that you have prepared everything, it's time to fix the phone
holder onto the standard camera tripod you have purchased. This is very
easy to do and it's simply a matter of screwing the tripod screw into
the mounting hole on the underside of the adapter.

Step 6: Supporting the Phone

The iPhone should now be fixed into the phone holder by opening the
clip and then putting the phone inside. Make sure that the iPhone's
camera is not obstructed as this will affect the quality of the videos.
Now, it's simply a matter of aiming the camera at whatever you want to
take videos of, and then post them on your favorite video sharing
website.